By: Leach, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Perry) H.B. No. 207
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2015;
May 14, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
Justice; May 21, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 21, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating the offense of voyeurism; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 21.16 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.16. VOYEURISM. (a) A person commits an offense if
the person, with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire
of the actor, observes another person without the other person's
consent while the other person is in a dwelling or structure in
which the other person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or (d), an offense
under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the actor has
previously been convicted two or more times of an offense under this
section.
(d) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if
the victim was a child younger than 14 years of age at the time of
the offense.
(e) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
* * * * *